Environmental Economics
Ardavan Zarandian; Fatemeh Mohammadyari; Roya Mousazadeh; Majid Ramezani Mehrian; Jalil Badamfirooz
Abstract
Introduction: Soil resources play an important role in providing the necessary material goods for humans and other organisms and also deliver multiple ecosystem services that are essential for life on earth. They have also served for a long time as an important green infrastructure in protecting agricultural ...
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Introduction: Soil resources play an important role in providing the necessary material goods for humans and other organisms and also deliver multiple ecosystem services that are essential for life on earth. They have also served for a long time as an important green infrastructure in protecting agricultural and forest landscapes by providing plants a foothold for their roots and holding the necessary nutrients for their growth. In addition, soils can provide various ecosystem services such as contaminant immobilization, rainwater control, carbon sequestration, and habitat provision that are directly beneficial for humans. Services provided by ecosystems for humans are called ecosystem services. Soil retention, which refers to the potential of ecosystems for controlling soil erosion and conserving soil, is classified in the class of regulating services. Materials and Methods: The InVEST Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) model was used in InVEST Software to quantify soil retention and erosion. The required inputs for implementing this model include land use maps, K-factor (soil erodibility), R-factor (rain erosivity), C-factor (land use and land cover or LU/LC), P-factor (support practices), DEM (digital elevation model), and the biophysical table. Results: Based on the results, the potential of soil loss and sediment transport in the study area ranged from zero to 248.18 t/pixel and from zero to 57.25 tons per pixel, respectively. Soil retention is also estimated in a range from zero to 124.85 tons per pixel in the studied area. The largest amount of soil loss happened in sub-basin number 14 with 13716400 t/year and the smallest in sub-basin number 4 with 416594 t/year. Most of the ecosystem service of soil retention belonged to sub-basin number 13 with 4304414 t/ha/ year and the least to sub-basin number 4 with 5645 tons/ha/year. Discussion: The dense forests in the northernmost part of Semnan Province provide the most part of the ecosystem service of soil retention with more than 36 t/ha and the desert areas, the salt lake, and the salt marsh the least. Based on this, the province's forests, including dense, semi-dense, sparse and thin forests, contribute to the maintenance of soil in the province by a total of 4269166 tons per year. Also, good pastures maintain more than 18 tons per hectare of the province's soil every year, and the total function of soil maintenance by all types of pastures in the province, including good, medium and poor pastures, is 9395160 tons per year. Since the area covered by the pastures is 18 times more than that by the forests, we can say that most of the ecosystem service of soil retention is provided by the pastures due to the geographical distribution of this service in the province, despite the fact that forests are more capable in soil conservation than pastures. The orchards and rainfed agricultural land rank third and fourth, respectively, in soil retention with 7.86 and 2.15 tons of soil/ha, respectively. However, man-made land uses such as urban areas decrease this ecosystem service because they are usually accompanied by removing or reducing the vegetation. The urban areas are located in the northern part of the study area, and they have negative impacts on this ecosystem service. Therefore, protection of the forest and rangeland covers in the province is vitally important for the continued conservation of the ecosystem service of soil retention.
Environmental Economics
Jalil Badamfirooz; Hamid Sarkheil; Roya Mousazadeh
Abstract
Mineral extraction plays an essential role in economic and social development. On the other hand, mining and its dependent processes can have harmful consequences on natural ecosystems, including air pollution, water, soil, and the impact on biodiversity and land use. Therefore, by quantifying these ...
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Mineral extraction plays an essential role in economic and social development. On the other hand, mining and its dependent processes can have harmful consequences on natural ecosystems, including air pollution, water, soil, and the impact on biodiversity and land use. Therefore, by quantifying these consequences and estimating the costs of damages to ecosystem services, it is possible to reduce the destruction of ecosystems in the country by applying measures based on prevention and control of effects. Jajarm bauxite mining area, as the largest and most crucial bauxite mine in the country, is located in North Khorasan province. Bauxite mining has negative environmental consequences on neighboring ecosystems during the exploitation and extraction of valuable aluminum material. Since the maximum impact area of this mine is cultivated areas downstream and around the extraction area of this area is 6000 hectares, in this study, the cost of environmental damages to the mine has been estimated using the benefit-transfer approach on this biome. The cost of damages to ecosystem services due to bauxite mining in the cultivated Areas (for 1000 hectares of affected cultivated areas) is estimated at 2481375 million IRR (equivalent to USD 9925500) in the year (2021). This highlights the importance of mine reclamation as well as ecological rehabilitation after mining activities in the area.Using economic tools to prevent and control the effects of mining activities is essential.
Environmental Economics
Jalil BadamFirooz; Roya Mousazadeh
Abstract
Wetland valuation is an important tool available to environmental managers and decision makers to justify the overal costs of wetland conservation and management activities. Currently, policymakers and planners do not have the right toolbox with easy access to assess the economic value of wetland ecosystems. ...
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Wetland valuation is an important tool available to environmental managers and decision makers to justify the overal costs of wetland conservation and management activities. Currently, policymakers and planners do not have the right toolbox with easy access to assess the economic value of wetland ecosystems. It is obvious that quoting quantitative and monertary values in expressing the value of each resource will be an efficient and effective tool to justify the goals of sustainable development and environmental protection, and this is possible by having a clear guidance model. Economic valuation of ecosystem services is a useful tool to support ecosystem management decisions and help decision makers to protect the ecosystem more effectively. Estimating the economic value and costs of environmental damage to wetland ecosystems can be effective in preserving values and preventing their degradation. The aim of this study is to integrate the economic valuation and costs of environmental damage to the Iranian wetlands ecosystem services as part of the process of determining the economic value of natural resources. Existence of basic and practical model and guidance for wetland valuation can help interested users in identifying values, choosing valuation techniques appropriate to each value, and in general, guiding in the correct way of valuing goods and services and also in applying management and executive policies in line with the goals of sustainable development. The main purpose of this study is to show, using a conceptual framework, how to estimate the environmental values and costs of wetland ecosystem services. In this study, by reviewing selected articles and instructions related to the research topic, step-by-step steps for estimating the economic values and costs of environmental damage to the Iranian wetlands ecosystem services are presented.